Uncompromising (Age Gap, gxg)

Chapter 42

Zee and I had time for two lunch dates before Thanksgiving rolled around on Thursday. They weren't much, but I wanted to spend a lot of time with Hollie too. As much as I liked spending time with Zee, I needed to make sure that my new relationship didn't mean that I ignored my daughters. That wouldn't be fair, and might make them resent Zee, which is the last thing I wanted. Lunch time dates were good, because the girls could hang out together while Zee and I got to talk and relax, then we had the rest of the day to spend as a group. So far that was working well.

On Thanksgiving Day, the house was full of activity. Elizabeth had come over with two heads of fresh cauliflower that we'd be roasting later and some stale breadcrumbs for a homemade stuffing. She hadn't mentioned her gardener friend since the first time, and I was afraid to ask. I guess he wasn't joining us today. She still seemed happy though, and that was what mattered. Quinn was there as well, fulfilling her promise to join us for the holiday and not having any of her men that she wanted to spend the time with. It would have been great if Harlow had come too, but she was still trying to work things out with her fiancé, and I silently wished her good luck.

"Okay, I think we're ready for the turkey to go in," I announced. Zee and Elizabeth were in the kitchen with me, and we had all chipped in on prepping things and making the stuffing before putting it into the big bird. Zee was a quick learner and seeing her concentrating while her cute little tongue was sticking out as she sauteed onions made me want to reward her with a lot of kisses.

So, I did. 

We'd explained to Elizabeth that we were just starting a relationship, though we left out the part about meeting at the hotel, and she quickly gave Zee a hug that made the younger woman tear up. It was one thing for me to tell her that she wasn't alone, and another for her to feel more and more people that had come to be on her side. Not to mention, she knew what Elizabeth meant to me, and her supporting us meant as much as my daughters doing so. My whole family was now on board with us trying to be together, and that was a good feeling.

Strangely enough, the afternoon was spent watching football. We had over four hours with the turkey in the oven, and Hollie and Zee had both grown up being into sports, and had spent much of the fall watching the Seminoles play football up at school, so it made sense that they watched. Elizabeth didn't care too much either way, while Jashanna and Gracie were too busy snuggling to worry about what was on television. But it was Quinn's begging that almost forced us to watch, because she had evidently hooked up with Tampa Bay's new rookie tight end, and she was very vocal about her not being a tight end when he was done with her. Yes, that meant exactly what you probably thought it did. The rest of us tried not to think too much about it.

"Come on 89!" she screamed at the television as her beau caught the ball and rumbled down the field. She'd love to celebrate with him after the game, but they were playing in Detroit and wouldn't be back till the morning. But she already had plans to go see him when he landed. I didn't know if the age gap between me and Zee had any bearing on her hooking up with a 22 year old rookie, but she was happy with what they had. Of course, she had the same thing with several others still, so maybe this guy was just very good at keeping her screaming.

"I would have thought you would have been cheering for 69," said Elizabeth drily, making us all cackle at her delivery, timing, and the fact that it was her that said it at all.

"Oh, I don't have to cheer for that," Quinn said with a grin. "That boy gives as good as he gets. I might have found the one!"

"Seriously?" I asked. "After all this time?"

"Yeah, I think so." She turned to look at me with a smile. "I never thought it would happen either. But Alec is a special one, so who knows?"

We all gave her little sounds of encouragement, and she blushed profusely. "Seriously Quinn, we're all happy for you. Do you think he feels that way too?"